ACCENTURE INNOVATES ITS PROCUREMENT EXPERIENCE

IN MOVING TO CLOUD-BASED EXPERIENCE

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY

With SAP Ariba’s launch of its guided buying capability on its Procure-to-Pay (P2P) software-as-a-service (SaaS), Accenture’s internal Procurement and IT organizations seized the opportunity to be an early adopter of the new capability to drive improved usability and increased procurement savings.

The vastly improved SAP Ariba Procure-to-Pay (P2P) solution offers features and functionality that Accenture aspires to allow users to be better, faster and more cost-effective in Accenture’s P2P processes. Accenture also knew that adopting a consumer-centric buying experience would be key to driving cost savings.

"WE WANT ACCENTURE PEOPLE TO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE MUCH LIKE THEY DO TODAY WHEN BUYING ONLINE AS A CONSUMER, SO THAT THEY WANT TO USE THE SYSTEM RATHER THAN HAVE TO USE IT, ULTIMATELY MAKING IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO BUY IN ACCENTURE'S PREFERRED WAY."

IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM

Accenture mobilized team members from Accenture’s internal Procurement business, internal IT organization, other Accenture businesses and SAP Ariba. This array of skills and experience was viewed as essential to successfully deliver the new P2P cloud solution, tailored for Accenture’s needs.

“When integrating today’s technology platforms, you rely more and more on a network of ecosystem partners to help you see all sides,” says Eli Lambert, Accenture Ariba P2P IT Program Lead. “We rely on our Accenture businesses to guide us based on their experiences on implementations completed for clients and SAP Ariba to keep us in front of new features and its road map.”

The teams are working in parallel over a two-year global deployment in 55 countries. SAP Ariba P2P is being rolled out in multiple waves to mitigate the risks of a single deployment. The Accenture delivery teams, who have extensive experience in implementing and running large procurement systems, are leveraging the Accenture SAP Cloud Center of Excellence to support the project’s agile methodology, journey to the cloud and high-velocity delivery of these waves.

RESULTS TO DATE, FUTURE OUTLOOK

Accenture successfully completed the initial release of SAP Ariba P2P, which is being followed by quarterly releases over the next 12 months. The initial capabilities enabled are foundational in deploying an end-to-end, cloud-based solution that is designed to be better, faster and cost-effective.

When SAP Ariba P2P is fully rolled out, the solution is intended to provide Accenture business users with a clean, simple and user-friendly online purchasing experience with intuitive buying options. Purchasing policy will be intuitive and content navigation integrated to the buying experience. This enables Accenture to direct buyers to negotiated contracted prices for an anticipated $20M+ savings over three years.

Being completely on the Ariba cloud platform will position Accenture to adopt and benefit from SAP’s current and future investments in innovation as new functionalities are developed and released, something previously not possible with an on-premise instance. SAP Ariba P2P will become the single point for procurement at Accenture. It will have capabilities that accelerate the business and handle transactions coming in faster and at a greater rate, meeting the current and future needs of the business.

"ACCENTURE'S MOVE TO SAP ARIBA P2P IS ABOUT
TRANSFORMING AND SIMPLIFYING THE BUYING
EXPERIENCE FOR OUR 400,000 EMPLOYEES
GLOBALLY. AT THE SAME TIME, ACCENTURE
WILL BE MAXIMIZING THE FULL VALUE FROM
CONTRACTED PRICING."